iTunes Plus upgrades go a la carte

When Apple announced that they were going fully DRM-free earlier this month, I hailed it as a good sign. In fact, with Windows 7 picking up AAC compatibility across the board, iTunes’ use of 256 Mbps non-protected AAC files suddenly makes more sense, and that service is among those offering the highest quality songs. There was just one niggling problem: If you wanted to upgrade your existing collection of purchased iTunes music (i.e. 128 Kbps Protected AAC junk), you had to upgrade the whole collection. You couldn’t just pick and choose which songs to upgrade. According to Macworld (yes, they’re apparently still around), that’s changed:

Apple has dispensed with the iTunes Store all-or-nothing upgrade policy.

Until today, anyone who wished to upgrade his or her music from iTunes’ protected format to iTunes Plus was required to upgrade every track in his or her library. That’s no longer the case. Travel to the iTunes Plus upgrade page (which you can do by clicking on the Upgrade To iTunes Plus link on the Store’s Home page) and you’ll discover that not only can you click on a large Buy All button to upgrade your entire protected collection, but you can now click Buy buttons next to the protected albums or tracks in your library. When you first do so, you’ll be prompted to agree to a new license agreement. Once you do that, you’re free to upgrade songs, albums, or music videos individually.

Prices haven’t changed. It still costs 30-cents to upgrade a track, approximately one-third of an album’s current purchase price to upgrade the album ($9.99 albums can be upgraded for $3), and it costs 60 cents to upgrade a music video.

So, kudos to Apple for doing that, finally. But raspberries all around because the company knew in advance that its biggest fans would simply knee-jerk their Mastercards out of their wallets and buy the all-or-nothing upgrade no questions asked, even though they long ago stopped listening to that “Rockwell’s Greatest Hits” album they bought in a fit of drunken stupidity. Those who “Think Different” (you know, the crazy ones) already ponied up to rebuy their entire collection. (Admit it, you did.) Those with clearer heads (and the more discriminating musical taste that comes with age) can now save some money.

Discuss this Article 24

Clearer heads that would use the Zune subscription model and the 10 free upgrades a month.
iTunes users = suckers.
Most iPod owners I know dont even buy music from iTunes. They rip or use shady P2P service. Just more evidence that the iTunes model is outdated in its music distribution scheme: pay for play, rip or steal.

Clearer heads that would use the Zune subscription model and the 10 free upgrades a month.
iTunes users = suckers.
Most iPod owners I know dont even buy music from iTunes. They rip or use shady P2P service. Just more evidence that the iTunes model is outdated in its music distribution scheme: pay for play, rip or steal.

"But raspberries all around because the company knew in advance that its biggest fans would simply knee-jerk their Mastercards out of their wallets and buy the all-or-nothing upgrade no questions asked, even though they long ago stopped listening to that “Rockwell’s Greatest Hits” album they bought in a fit of drunken stupidity. Those who “Think Different” (you know, the crazy ones) already ponied up to rebuy their entire collection. (Admit it, you did.)"
Uh, no I didn't. I doubt that many people did, because the supposedly oh-so-onerous copy protection hasn't proven to be very onerous at all. For annoying copy protection (and recently introduced, counter to the way the entire industry is moving) you have to look to.........Microsoft:
http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/245859/qa-microsoft-defends-return-to-drm.html
Ah, innovation! The best part:
"Why has Microsoft gone back to DRM when the vast majority of music services have ditched it?
It's a first step. We're doing this in conjunction with a third-party provider. We'll be looking to enhance the service if we get some interest from consumers. They certainly tell us that they like listening to music while they are out and about, on their mobile phones.
At the moment, to be honest with you, we don't have the functionality in-house to provide a mechanism for transferring between mobile phones and PC. We don't have that functionality available."
"We don't have that functionality available". Ponder that wonderful statement. They don't know how to produce a simple mp3 file with copy protection.
I realize that the purpose of this blog is to find "everything possible that is negative about Apple", but this one is particularly lame.

That is good news for those that use iTunes to buy music...Like puzder said above, I use the Zune Pass and get 10 free per month.
@Paul - I'm afraid that you just gave robertsjoe and his teenage band of anti-MS trolls some ammunition. Last week you flat out told us all that this site is dedicated to the future of Windows. I suppose that shince W7 is getting the ACC compatibility, you can justify it as relevant. But fair warning...stand back once school gets out!
--tayme

I couldn't believe they expected you to pay for all of your music to be upgraded. I stopped using itunes a while ago but my wife and daughter still use them in their touch and iphones so itunes still infests some of our computers.
I agree with puzder, the Zune subscription is great they also have a ton of their stuff in 320kb mp3's, even better than Amazons 256 kb mp3's. Unfortunately itunes has a much better selection.
I still use Music Giants which has loss less Windows Media files, they sound great and can be burned and ripped without sounding like crap. Again the selection is just okay.

Now lets be sensible here. Unless you're a Linux distro, most free market businesses charge for everything. I highly doubt the members of the RIAA would come close to giving away updated DRM free tracks. I bet they would have laughed their butts off. However, you can stick with the DRM laiden 128 KB tracks. Nobody is forcing you to upgrade.
However, if you do choose to upgrade, you're getting higher quality DRM free tracks at a mere 30 cents. Its really up to the individual to decide if its worth the price or to pass. However, did any of you really think the RIAA would just bend over and say "Okay, upgrade them for free." Seriously! Not ever going to happen.
This is what's called a compromise. You don't like it. I don't like it. They don't like it, but everyone can learn to live with it. Something that has been sorely lacking in the United States for awhile now. I'm actually thinking about upgrading. There are crazier things to spend 40 bucks on.

I guess Paul finally found his snark-o-matic keyboard he seems to have misplaced a couple weeks ago.
"Those who “Think Different” (you know, the crazy ones) already ponied up to rebuy their entire collection. (Admit it, you did.) "
Nope. I waited until there was the inevitable uproar. No way was I paying to upgrade the "free" tracks I've downloaded over the years. I figured eventually they'd come around. And they did.
Good information, smarmy reporting. Just what we've come to expect from this guy.
And yes, Mr. Thurrott: Macworld is still around. I hear they use "Connected Home" to line the birdcages in their office.

In before the oh-my-god-Paul-said-something-about-Apple-smear-him crowd gets back from school.
iTunes runs on Windows. Owns a good chunk of the market. Getting rid of its DRM-monopoly will allow Windows to play the music, the Zune to play the music, etc. Article has valid reason on this site, just as Paul's Firefox bits do.

"Most iPod owners I know dont even buy music from iTunes. They rip or use shady P2P service. Just more evidence that the iTunes model is outdated in its music distribution scheme: pay for play, rip or steal."
And yet 70+% of all digital music sold is on iTunes. Yeah outdated. I bet GM and many others these days, wish they had such outdated business models.
Why no blog post about the 54% drop in Zune sales, or the firing/layoff of the guy that ran Zune.net.
Lets be honest here iPod/iTunes dominates its market sector and any company would love to have a product that was doing so well. Like Apple or not its a simple fact.

"But raspberries all around because..."
Where was your post giving Microsoft raspberries for their dumb DRM filled Mobile Music service they announced just this week? No, nothing about that. Talk about your biased "reporting". Don't want to upset too many at Microsoft?

"That is good news for those that use iTunes to buy music...Like puzder said above, I use the Zune Pass and get 10 free per month."
Good luck with that dead piece of technology. The Zune is dead. Finished.

"Those with clearer heads (and the more discriminating musical taste that comes with age) can now save some money."
By definition, since you're a Microsoft fanboy, you have no taste. So you can't have taste in music either.

What I don't get is how Microsoft allowed iTunes to flourish.
Windows is put on nearly every computer sold, provides its own music software, has its own audio format, and still couldn't muster any effort in preventing little Apple from owning the whole music industry.
People actually had to go out and get iTunes, and it now has more than 70% market share. Unbelievable.
So I guess that if it's going to be iTunes, this is a good move by Apple.

@chipwinter: "What I don't get is how Microsoft allowed iTunes to flourish."
Microsoft doesn't have the vision for stuff like that. It takes someone like Steve Jobs to pull something like this off (and the rest just follow). Jobs changed the music industry forever. Ballmer could not do something like that. And if you think that's just Apple fanboyism, you don't know what you're talking about.

I have iPods (and iPhone) and a small purchased collection (from Apple; I swore off buying from the labels--CD or digital--before Amazon appeared). I also don't pirate.
And I didn't reflexively run off and upgrade, as I was sure Apple would fix the all or nothing thing eventually: it was there before the no-DRM announcement and didn't change then.
In a few more weeks, I'll upgrade most of what can be upgraded (now I'll wait until OneClick isn't necessary. (Note that I use the Mac for this--I took iTunes off my Windows machine fairly quickly--right after Apple's misuse of security updates to push Safari.)
I also have a Zune and use the Zune marketplace (with a pass at least for now--will probably (let it) renew).
I've used Macs for a long time; Windows sporadically and under protest. I prefer the Zune software to iTunes at this time. And I'm beginning to like my blue Zune better than my iPod nano.
I also

One can turn around the "why did Microsoft let iTunes flourish?" question, and ask "Why did Apple let IBM walk away with 'Personal Computer' without a fight?".
When Boca Raton unleashed the first "IBM Personal Computer", the Apple machines were just as much a "personal computer" as the new IBMs (which didn't even know the time and date when booted). (I view that as one of Jobs' Great Mistakes.)
I was in the ComputerLand of San Diego store one afternoon when one of the owners emerged from the back room to tell the other "IBM Boca Raton just ordered 100 Apple ][s from ComputerLand of Boca Raton". The IBM PC followed in due course (inflicting the wrong chip upon us in the process--THAT should start a flurry, to which I won't respond).
(I have no idea what the dangling "I also" in my prior post was supposed to lead to. One of the problems with being in the year in which the leading digit of my age changes to 7.)

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